Valve construction



July 4, 1950 a. R. PENNINGTON VALVE CONSTRUCTION FiledFeb. 14, 1944 IN VEN TOR. 63/49)? )7. J e/171i): 512 71 Patented July 4, 1950 ,VALVE CONSTRUCTION Gordon R. Pennington, Bloomfield Hills, Mich.,

assignor to Chrysler Corporation,

Highland Park, Mich., a corporation of Delaware Application February 14, 1944,1 S erial No. 522,238

3 Claims. 1

This application is a continuation-in-part of Pennington copending application Serial No. 476,283, filed February 18, 1943, now abandoned.

This invention relates to automobile tire construction and particularly to safety tubes of types which comprise two air chambers and a valve to control the flow of air in, out and between such chambers.

Commonly, valving is provided for tubes of the character referred to which includes a fixed orifice communicating with an inner pressure chamber which orifice is of suificient size to permit the chamber to be inflated in reasonable time but which is, nevertheless, small enough to retain pressure in this inner chamber, in the event of a blowout and consequent loss of pressure in the outer air chamber, for a suflicient period of time to permit the car to be brought to a stop before the tire is completely collapsed. The selection of the proper size for this orifice presents a, diificult problem. If it is made too small the time required for inflation or voluntary deflation becomes excessive. If, on the other hand, this orifice is made too large, the pressure in the inner tube will not be retained, in the event of a blowout, for a sufficient length of time to fully provide the safety feature desired;

The primary object of this invention is to provide valving which will automatically vary "the effective orifice communicating with the inner air chamber of a safety tube of the character.

referred to in such a manner as topermit the rapid inflation and voluntary deflation of the tube but which will maintain the pressure in the inner air chamber for a substantial period of time when a blowout occurs. l I

Another object of the invention :is to provide a tube with an inner and outer chamber constructed and arranged to beinfiated to-substantially equal pressures with means for equalizingsuch pressures during inflation or slow deflation.

Another object of the invention is to provide a dual valve which will permit.theintroduction ofair into and out of the two chambers simul taneously. I I I I A further object of the inventionis to provide a valve actuated b centrifugal force whichwill.

maintain communication between the two chambers of such a tube to equalize the'pressures between the latter so long as, but no longer than, the said pressures do. not greatly differ;

Other objects and advantages. of-the invention will more fully appear from ,thefollowing description taken in connection :with the companying drawings, in., whi ch:. 1,,

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of an automobile wheel having a tire and valve stem;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional view through the tire taken on the line 22 of Fig. 1;

.Fig. 3 is a further enlarged sectional view taken through the valve stem shown in elevation in Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary view corresponding to Fig. 3 but showing a modification of my invention.

.In the drawings l is a wheel having a rim 2 and a tire casing 3 in which is mounted a tube 4 comprising an outer rubber envelope 5 and an inner fabric and rubber wall 6 forming the inner and outer air chambers A and B.

A valve 1 comprises a valve body 8, a conventional tube valve which is referred to in its entirety by the numeral 9 and an automatic centrifugal valve assembly which will be referred to in its entirety as II].

The valve assembly I0 comprises a cap II pressed onto the end portion 9 of the valve 8, a valve stem I2 fixed by a rivet I3 to a disc valve I4. A light spring I5 normally holds the valve I4 against a rubber washer It at the end of the valve body 8. The cap II has an openend Il providing communication between the chamber A and the valve I4. inwardly projecting fingers II on the cap II retain the spring I5 against the valve I4. v

A passage H, which communicates with the outside atmosphere through thevalve 9, communicates with the pressure chamber A through the valve l4 and With the pressure chamber B through a molded conduit or passage IB.

r The operation of the device shown is as follows: 1 v

, When. the tire is to be; inflated, air is introduced through the conventional valve 9 in the usual way and this air simultaneously flows into the chamber B through the conduit I8 and into the chamber A by lifting the .valve [4. from its seat on the gasket l6 againstthe slight resistance of the lightspring I5. When the tube is fully inflated the valve I4 will return to its seat against the washer I6 until the car is put into motion. As the car speed increases and the centrifugal force on the valve disc l4 increases this valve will tend to move against the resistance of the spring I5, and thereby place the chambers A and B into communication thus equalizing the air pressures between these chambers. Asthe direction of the centrifugal force is at an angle to the axis of the valve only part ,of this forcev will actagainst the spring, the-balance acting against the wall of the passage l1 and thus producing against this wall a frictional resistance which will prevent vibration of the valve as a whole.

In the event of a blowout of the wall of the casing 3 and consequent rupture of the outer envelope 5 and sudden loss of pressure in the chamber B, the resulting pressure difference between chamber A and chamber B will cause the valve disc M to close against centrifugal force and thereby retain the air in pressure chamber A thus retaining sufflcient air in the tire 3 to permit the car to be driven safely for a considerable distance. Thus my improved safety tube valving will not only provide increased safety by preventing complete deflation until the car can be brought to a stop but will also offer the added convenience to the driver of being able to drive to a service station or other convenient place for changing or repairing the damaged tube and tire.

' When the tube is to be voluntarily deflated a valve stem 9 is depressed in the usual manner and thus will contact the valve stem l2 and thereby cause the valve disc to be depressed thus opening communication into the pressure chamher A at the same time that communication is opened into pressure chamber B through the conduit l8.

It is desired to stress the fact that the spring I5 is light or week so that it offers only slight resistance to movement of the valve l4 away from its seat on the washer IS. The valve I4 is of the type that may be lifted from its seat with a minimum of effort, for it has flat engagement with the washer 16 in a plane at right angles to the movement of the valve. The head of the valve will not tend to jam or to stick.

It is important that the valve M be opened with a minimum of effort and with no tendency to jam or stick, so that the centrifugal force imposed by normal operation at high or low speeds will always open the valve.

In some instances it may be desirable to eliminate altogether resistance to opening of the valve, and accordingly a valve assembly [9 has been provided, as shown in Fig. 4, in which no spring is present. The valve assembly I 9 comprises a cap ll open at Il a valve stem l2, and a disc valve M, which closes by contacting a rubber washer l5. Under normal conditions there is nothing to hold the valve l4 closed. The cap ll serves only to retain the valve I4 suffi'ciently to prevent dislodgement of the valve stem [2 from the passage H, the fingers l I on cap H limiting movement of the valve head 14. With equal pressure in chambers A and B the valve [4 is free and open. In the event of a slow leal; in the outer envelope 5 the slight difference in pressure between the chambers A and B will not close the valve 14, and the pressures will be equalized by virtue of the communication between the chambers at the open valve l4. However, a blowout of the outer casing 5 and rupture of the outer envelope 3 will produce a large difference in pressure between. the chambers A and B that will shut the valve [4, retaining sufficient pressure in the chamber A to permit the car to be driven safely for some distance.

The advantage in the valve assembly IQ of Fig. 4 is that there is communication between chambers A and B even when the tire is not ro-. tating. Of course, the centrifugal force imposed by rotation of the tire positively assures opening ofthe valve l4 under, normal conditions, and the.

V 4 large difference ofpressure upon a blowout will close the valve against the centrifugal force.

The valve assembly I9 of Fig. 4 operates during inflation and deflation in the same manner as the valve assembly ll! of Fig. 3. Depression of the valve stem 9 positively displaces the valve Hi from its seat on the rubber washer It, so that during inflation air will flow into the chamber A and during deflation air will flow out of the chamber A.

It will be understood that various changes including the size, shape and arrangement of parts may be made without departing from the spirit of my invention and it is not my intention to limit its scope other than by the terms of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a valve structure for a rotatable annular tube having an inner chamber and an outer chamber, comprising means forming a conduit enterin the outer chamber, said means also forming a passage leading from a location exterior of both chambers to a place of merger with the conduit, an outer valve seated in said passage for inflating and deflating the tube, and passage forming means having an opening in the inner chamber and establishing communication therefrom to said place of merger, the aforesaid passage forming means being'disposed along an axis lying oblique to the axis of rotation of the annular tube; the combination with the outer valve and the passage forming means, of means presenting a flat valve seat face surrounding the passage opening in the inner chamher, an open valve cap formed to receive valving for movement therein and being disposed adiacent said opening in association with said valve seat means, said valve cap having means including fingers arranged for a spacing from the valve seat means for retaining valvingtherein, centrifugal valving including a disc part received for movement in the valve cap generally along said oblique axis in response to centrifugal force in a direction toward said fingers, and otherwise sealingly tending to seat on said valve seat means normally and in response to existing pressure differential from the inner chamber through the passage forming means, and means connected with the outer valve and acting against the centrifugal valving to cause opening of the outer valve to effect positive opening of the disc part.

2. In a valve structure for a tube having an inner chamber and an outer chamber, comprising means forming a conduit leading from the outer chamber, said means also forming a passage tion with the aforesaid passage forming means,

and the outer valve, of valve seat forming means disposed in sealing adjacency to said passage opening in the inner chamber and having associated therewith a hollow valve cap provided with stop means in spacing relation thereto and formed to receive valving in said spacing, inner" valving including 'a disc part received in said valve cap for movement influenced by wheel rota-v tion from a position sealingly juxtaposed to said valve seat forming means toward said stop means and open position, ar id means connected with the outer valve for operative connection with the disc part for causin opening of the outer valve to eifect positive opening of the inner valving.

3. In a valve structure for a rotatable annular tube having an inner chamber and an outer chamber, comprising means forming a conduit entering the outer chamber, said means also forming a passage leading from a location exterior of both chambers to a place of merger with the conduit, an outer valve seated in said passage for inflating and deflating the tube, and passage forming means having an opening in the inner chamber and establishing communication therefrom to said place of merger, the aforesaid passage forming means being disposed along an axis lying oblique to the axis of rotation of the annular tube; the combination with the outer valve and the passage forming means, of means presenting a fiat valve seat face surrounding the passage opening in the inner chamber, an open valve cap formed to receive valving for movement therein and being disposed adjacent said opening in association with said valve seat means, said valve cap having means including fingers arranged for a spacing from the valve seat means for retaining valving therein and an interposed resilient member engaging the fingers, centrifugal valving including a disc part received for movement in the valve cap generally along said oblique axis in response to centrifugal force in a direction toward said fingers, and otherwise sealingly tending to seat on said valve seat means normally due to the urging of the interposed resilient member and in response to existing pressure differential from the inner chamber through the passage forming means, and means connected with the outer valve and acting against the centrifugal valving to cause opening of the outer valve to effect positive opening of the disc part.

GORDON R. PENNINGTON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 804,088 Blakeslee Nov. 7, 1905 2,122,740 Eckero-th July 5, 1938 25 2,207,212 Arey July 9, 1940 2,268,370 Barkeij Dec. 30, 1941 

